Paint spray device



May 26, 1970 P. MORTIMER ET AL 3,513,808

PAINT SPRAY DEVICE Filed 001'.. 30, 1967 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Il, fl' l 5.25l 'fg fj@J7 if?) P53724 /f i 5394 I N VEN TORS.

May 26, 1970 P, MORTIMER ET AL PAINT SPRAY DEVICE 2 Sheets-Sheet z FiledOct. 50, 1967 INVENTORS. /a/mf M zff/V BY /Qfff/P #apr/Ms? United StatesPatent O 3,513,808 PAINT SPRAY DEVICE Peter Mortimer, North Haledon, andThomas W. Olsen,

Wayne, NJ., assignors to Modern Decorating Company, Passaic, NJ.

Filed Oct. 30, 1967, Ser. No. 679,022 Int. Cl. Bc 5 /00 U.S. Cl. 118--98 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A paint spray device including aspray booth, mounted on a base around which a periodically indexeddoublechain conveyor with article carrying fixtures is arranged, so thatthe articles to be sprayed are moved along the front of the booth, andchain drives in front of the booth for rotating the article carryingfixtures in opposite directions consecutively during the sprayingperiod.

Background of the invention The invention relates to paint sprayingdevices, particularly to such devices in which articles to be painted byspraying are moved along in front of spray guns.

Prior art discloses devices for painting, varnishing or coatingarticles, in which these articles are loaded on trays or suspended froma chain or hung on hooks on such chains. The chains are part of aconveyor system and thus the articles can be passed along in front ofone or more spray guns, which may be located in front or in the rear ofthe chain, or in both places. However, in most cases the articles to besprayed are not flat but rather three-dimensional, for example round orcylindrical. In such cases a uniform coating may not always be attainedunless special spray gun arrangements are made. The problem of an evenand uniform coating on such three-dirnem sional articles is solved bythe invention in an improved yet quite simple manner.

Summary The invention consists in such novel features, constructionarrangements, combination of parts and improvements as may be shown anddescribed in connection with the apparatus herein disclosed by way ofexample only and as illustrative of a preferred embodiment. Theinventive idea is to provide a novel machine which not only comprisesstructural arrangements for spraying the articles from all sidesuniformly and evenly but also a device which offers the advantages of acontinuous work operation. Objects and advantages of the invention willbe set forth in part hereafter and in part will be obvious herefrom ormay be learned by practicing the invention, the same being realized andattained by means of the instrumentalities and combinations pointed outin the appended claims.

It is an object of the invention to provide contrivances for acontinuously operating article spraying device.

A further object of the invention is to provide a chain conveyor withfreely rotatable article holding fixtures mounted thereon.

Another object of the invention is to provide for power operated spraygun fixtures which are adjustable and which optionally may or may not bemoved vertically up and down.

Yet another object of the invention is to provide power ice operateddrive systems for rotating the article holding fixtures in front of thespray guns alternately in one direction and then in the oppositedirection while the conveyor is forwardly indexed in timed sequences.

Furthermore, it is an object to provide for a compact machine of thekind described which may be simply and safely operated for an economicproduction'.

Various further and more specific purposes, features and advantages willclearly appear from the detailed description given below taken inconnection with the accompanying drawing which forms part of thisspecification and illustrates merely by way of example one embodiment ofthe device of the invention.

Brief description of the drawing In the following description and in theclaims, parts will be identified by specific names for convenience, butsuch names are intended to be as generic in their application to similarparts as the art will permit. Like reference characters denote likeparts in the several figures of the drawing, in which FIG. l shows in aschematical manner a plain view of the device of the invention;

FIG. 2 shows in more detail a cross-section along the line 2--2 in FIG.1;

FIG. 3 shows a portion of the conveyor chain with the freely rotatablearticle holding fixtures, partly broken away;

FIG. 4 shows a detail View of the vertically movable spray gun fixtures,taken in the direction of the arrow 4 in FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 shows an isometric view of the conveyor chain drive; and

FIG. 6 shows a modification of an adjustable belt dev1ce.

Description of the preferred embodiment Referring now in more detail tothe drawings illustrating a preferred embodiment by which the inventionmay be realized, there is shown in FIG. 1 a rectangular tablelike basestructure 11 on which a spray booth 12 is mounted. An endlessdouble-chain conveyor 13 is laid around table structure 11 in suchmanner that it is guided over the corners of table structure 11 bysprockets 14, 15, 16, 17 and supported by intermediate sprockets 18which are shown in FIG. 2. Bearing housings 19 are arranged at everychain link, acting at the same time as vertical spacers for the conveyor13. Freely running vertical shafts 20 are mounted in ball bearings (notshown in the drawing) which are located in housings 19. Vertical shafts20 eX- tend upwardly in such manner that they serve as receiving andsupporting means for articles to be processed, as it will be describedbelow. Each shaft 20 has a free end extending downwardly below housing19, on which end a roller chain sprocket 21 is fastened.

In front of booth 12 and at the same horizontal level as sprockets 21 ofshafts 19 are two roller chains 22, 23. Sprockets 21 engage insuccessive order chains 22 and 23, when conveyor 13 is moving aroundtable structure 11. Chains 22 and 23 are driven by an electric motor 24by way of gear box 25. Center sprockets 26, 27 have spur gears (notvisible in the drawing) which mesh with one another so that chain 23rolls in the opposite direction of chain 22. By this arrangement shafts20 are 3 rotated in opposite directions in front of booth 12 insuccessive order.

A spray gun device 30 is placed in front of booth 12 outside of conveyorchain 13, as shown in FIGS. l and 2. The device is shown in a largerscale in FIG. 4. The device consists of a horizontal beam 31 on whichtwo upright posts 32, 33 are erected. Each post 32, 33 supports twohorizontally extending brackets 34, 3S which can be adjusted vertically,horizontally and rotatably about their posts. Each bracket 34, 35carries two spray guns 36, 37 in such manner that they can be rotatablyadjusted about their fixing screw 38. Beam 31 serves also as adistributor for the iiuid which is to be sprayed by guns 36, 37, andcarries to that extent the necessary hose connecting iixtures 39 andvalves 40. Feed lines 41, 42 with main valves 43, 44 carry the fluid tobeam 31. Supported by a crossbrace 45 is a support block 46 on which adouble-acting air cylinder 47 is fastened. The upper end 48 of thepiston of air cylinder 47 is attached to beam 31, and a vertical guiderod 49 is arranged parallel to air cylinder 47. By this construction,beam 31 and everything that is attached to it can be moved verticallyupward and downward, so that the spray of spray guns 36, 37 may coverthe entire height of an article supported by shafts 20.

The main drive 50 for chain conveyor 13 is shown in FIG. 5. Sprocket 14is mounted on a vertical shaft 51 which has a gear 52 on its lower end.Gear 52 meshes with gear 53 which is Iiixed on the vertical shaft 54 ofan indexing device S (not shown in more detail since it is a knowncommercial de-vice). Indexing device 55 is driven by the main drivemotor 56 over a speed reducing gear 57 which at the same time is builtas a gear shifting device. Between motor 56 and speed reduced 57 is anelectro-magnetic clutch and brake device 58.

The operation of the machine may be described as follows:

Main motor S6 is switched on and the operating cycle is started. Clutch58 is engaged and brake is released. Chain conveyor 13 with articlesloaded on shafts 20 is indexed forward. When indexing device 55 hasfinished its indexing movement, a microswitch is operated by it,releasing clutch 58 and engaging the brake. At the same time a timingdevice 65 is started while motor 24 is continuously running. Shaftscarrying the articles to be sprayed are rotated so that spray guns 36,37 can apply an even and uniform coating on the articles. Obviously thevertical movement of beam 31 with the guns can be operated at the sametime, if necessary. When timing device 65 has run its pre-set time, guns36, 37, and air cylinder 48 are stopped; timing device is re-set, clutch58 is energized again and the brake is released. Thus the operatingcycle starts again.

Obviously, there is suflicient time alloted for drying of the sprayedcoating, and the -iinished articles can be taken off and new articlesplaced on shafts 20. It is understood that any kind of dryer, infra-red,gas or electric can be applied to the chain conveyor path, if it is sodesired. But such drying equipment is optional and is not claimed asnew.

FIG. 6 shows a modified drive of the device for changing the speed ofthe conveyor chain 13. In lieu of gears 52, 53, there may be providedinterchangeable sprockets or V-belt sheaves 59, 60 and the belt `61 canbe tightened by mounting the motor 56 and gear box 55 on a base plate 62which is slidable in slots l63 of a mounting plate "64. -By changing thediameters of the pulley 59 and 60, it is readily seen that the speedratio can be modified.

From the foregoing it is apparent that there is herein provided a devicefor coating in a continuous process articles by spraying comprising aspray both 12, a horizontally disposed endless conveyor 13 surroundingthe booth, means for driving conveyor 13 continuously, a plurality ofbearing housings 19 vertically mounted on conveyor 13, verticallyupwards extending shafts 20 freely rotatably journalled in housings 19adapted to carry the articles to be sprayed, the shafts carryingcircular members 2.1, endless bands 22, 23 arranged in front of booth12, the bands 22, 23, being driven in opposite directions engagingmembers 21 for rotating shafts 20 and thus the articles thereon to besprayed in opposite directions in a consecutive order, and spray gunapparatus 30 located in front of booth 12, conveyor 13 carrying shafts20 being located between apparatus 30 and booth 12, whereby the articlesmay be sprayed during their rotation in one direction and then duringtheir rotation in the other direction, while conveyor 13 is forwardlyindexed in timed sequences by the indexing means.

While the invention has been described and illustrated with respect to acertain preferred embodiment which gives satisfactory results, it willbe understood by those skilled in the art after understanding theprinciple of the invention that various other changes and modificationsmay be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the inventionand it is intended therefor in the appended claims to cover all suchchanges and modifications.

What is claimed is:

1. In a device for coating in a continuous process articles by spraying,said device having a spray booth, a horizontally disposed endlessconveyor surrounding said booth, means for driving said conveyor, aplurality of bearing housings vertically mounted on said conveyor,vertically upwards extending shafts freely rotatably journalled in saidhousings adapted to carry yarticles to be sprayed, said shafts carryingcircular members substantially on their lower end; spray gun apparatuslocated in front of said booth, said conveyor carrying said rotatableshafts |being located between said apparatus and said booth, two endlessbands arranged in front of said spray booth, Said bands havingconnecting gear means for being driven in opposite directions engagingsaid members for rotating said shafts in opposite directions in aconsecutive order, whereby said articles may be sprayed during theirrotation in one direction and then during their rotation in the otherdirection, and a timing device on said driving means for controlling thesequence of operations of said device.

2. A device according to cliam 1, wherein said conveyor comprises achain having links, said housings mounted on said links, said circularmembers comprise sprockets, and said endless bands comprise chainsengaging said sprockets.

3. A device according to claim 2, said spray gun apparatus comprising ahorizontal beam, `at least two upright posts spaced apart from oneanother on said beam, at least two adjustable horizontally extendingbrackets on each one of said posts, adjustable spray guns attached tosaid brackets and a fluid power operated motor having a double-actingpiston, said piston attached to said beam for periodically moving saidbeam vertically up and down.

4. A device according to claim 1, said spray gun apparatus comprising ahorizontal beam, at least two upright posts spaced apart from oneanother on said beam, at least two adjustable horizontally extendingbrackets on each one of said posts, adjustable spray guns Iattached tosaid brackets and a iiuid power operated motor having a double-actingpiston, said piston attached to said beam for periodically moving saidbeam vertically up and down.

5. A device according to claim 1, and variable speed drive means forsaid conveyor, said drive means comprising an indexing device forintermittently indexing said conveyor and a clutch and brake device onsaid drive means for starting and stopping said conveyor.

6. A device according to claim 1, said apparatus comprising adjustablespray guns.

7. In a device for coating in a continuous process articles by sprayinghaving a spray booth, a horizontally moving endless conveyor at thefront of said booth, rotatable article holding -iixtures on saidconveyor, spray gun apparatus disposed in front of said fixtures;indexing means on said conveyor, a timing device connected with saidindexing means, and power operated drive means for rotating saidfixtures alternately in one direction and then 2,210,187v 8/ 1940 Ross118-322 X in the opposite direction while said conveyor is forwardly2,461,657 2/ 1949 Paasche 118-326 X indexed in timed sequences by saidindexing means. 2,560,270 7/1951 Bird 118-416 X 8. A device according toclaim 7, said drive means 2,808,343 10/ 1957 Simmons 118-321 Xcomprising endless bands arranged in front of said con- 5 2,838,025 6/1958 Miller et al. 118-322 veyor, and connecting gear means for drivingsaid bands in opposite directions, said bands engaging said fixtures.WALTER A- SCHEEL, Primary Examiner References Cited I. P. MCINTOSH,Assistant Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 10 U.SA Cl. X.'R.

1,124,858 1/1915 Caruso et al. 118-326 X 118-321, 322, 326, 3142,081,442 5/ 1937 Willshaw et al 118-321

